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COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 


No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec¬ 
tion has been found. 


OCT. (9 lauj 

Forwarded to Order Division------ 

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(Apr. 5, 1901—5,000.) 




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ConsccrattD ®Homan&ooD 





























Consecrated ^omanfjood 

SI Sermon 

PREACHED IN 

)t jftrst Congregational Ctmrct) 

PORTLAND, OREGON 
BY 

FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN 

1 ! 

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTICE 
BY 

FRANCES POWER COBBE 



NEW YORK 

J. O. WRIGHT & COMPANY 
MDCCCCIII 












THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

SEP 1 1903 

Copyright Entry 
CUSS XXo. No. 
COPY A. 




c '' < 












SInttoUuctort Notice 


those who have long lamented the 
v prevailing tendency in Christian 
churches to deny to women the hon¬ 
ors and responsibilities of sacred offices and 
duties, such a sermon as “ Consecrated Wo¬ 
manhood,” written by an American clergy¬ 
man, is like a breath of fresh air in Neapoli¬ 
tan church-buildings that have never known 
the beauty of sunlight, and the atmospheres 
of which have grown heavy through the cen¬ 
turies with the oppressive weight of suffocat¬ 
ing incense. 

The preacher opens his discourse with the 
statement that “ the Bible honored woman 
when every other book was blind to the true 
dignity of her character.” Scholars differ, 
and little is certain when we go back far 


7 



3|ntroUuctor^ Notice 

enough in the ancient writings of our race. 
But I think there can be no doubt that in all 
the earliest literatures of which we have 
knowledge, the thought of the world was 
more favorable to the development of wo¬ 
manly independence, than in later composi¬ 
tions, especially such as have come from 
patristic and monastic sources. Certainly we 
find the great Greek tragedians unfolding 
their noblest ideals in the character of an 
Alcestis, and expressing through the lips of an 
Antigone their loftiest conceptions of virtue, 
and their purest and bravest ethical teachings. 
The Jews did not stand alone, as this elo¬ 
quent sermon clearly shows, in honoring 
woman ; but the Old Testament is devoid, 
as its most careless reader cannot but see, of 
all that wretched admiration for feminine 
feebleness of mind and body which seems to 
have sprung from masculine vanity, and has 
been fostered by centuries of priestly instruc¬ 
tion and popular superstition. As the most 
illustrious Jewess now living, Lady Batter¬ 
sea, wrote in her admirable book some years 
ago, when she was Miss Constance de Roths- 


8 


3!ntroDuctor^ Notice 

child, c< The ideal woman of the ancient Israel¬ 
ite was always strong and fearless—a Miriam, 
a Deborah, a Judith, an Esther. Not a word 
in that older Bible denies to woman the right 
to exercise every power of speech or action 
granted her by Jehovah.” 

Nothing assuredly can be more broad¬ 
minded or more generous than Dr. Marvin’s 
whole treatment of the claims of women, 
whether in politics, in the religious life, or in 
the domestic circle. In my humble opinion 
it would do infinite service in awakening 
thought and dispelling prejudice, could the 
sermon on “ Consecrated Womanhood ” be 
preached in every church and chapel in Eng¬ 
land. The good Quakers alone, so far as I 
know, have no need for its admonition. 

Frances Power Cobbe. 


Hengwrt, 

Dolgelly, North Wales, 
June 21, 1903. 





ConjsecrateD caioman^ooD 


“ She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the 
distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor $ yea, she reacheth 
out her hands to the needy. Strength and honor are her clothing j 
and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with 
wisdom j and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”— Pro-verbs. 


6^/T is the peculiarity of the Bible that it 
^|J honored woman when every other 
book was blind to the true dignity of 
her character and the royal possibilities of her 
nature. The old Testament exalted her not 
only as wife and mother, but as citizen and 
ruler, and some of the most stirring songs and 
daring deeds of patriotism are recorded in the 
Bible to the honor of woman. Her inspired 
pen is immortalized in the Word of God, and 
if it be not meet that her voice sound from 
the halls of Congress, it is a fact of history 
that it was heard on the field of battle and in 
the chamber of justice more than three thou- 



Consecrate!) MomantjooD 

sand years ago, when, by the mouth of De¬ 
borah and the hand of Jael, the Lord deliv¬ 
ered Israel from the power of the spoiler. 
She may not be thought competent to have 
part in framing the laws of a State, but she 
was competent to judge the chosen people and 
to mould the character of the world's Re¬ 
deemer. 

The conservative who would obstruct the 
wheels of progress endeavors to accomplish 
his end by an appeal to the Bible. Sacred 
Scriptures were represented as the friend of 
slavery ; they are now cited in defense of 
Papal idolatry and Mormon impurity ; and 
how often we hear them quoted against the 
emancipation of woman. But the Bible is the 
most radical book in all the world, and its 
maxims of wisdom and virtue are in advance 
of every age. Whatever has been accom¬ 
plished for the improvement of woman’s lot 
may be traced to its hallowed influence. “ It 
found her the slave of man’s appetite in the 
East, the servant of his cupidity in the West, 
and the victim of his cruelty in the South,” 
and it broke the chain that bound her soul in 


12 


Consecrates OTomanljooD 

darkness and the social fetters that linked her 
womanhood with dishonor. 

We have in the Bible pictures of womanly 
tenderness and nobleness, and also of womanly 
debasement unequaled in secular literature. I 
know how exalted are the women of Homer 
—“TheHeroes' Battle-Prize," “TheHeav¬ 
enly-Minded," “ The Sought-For," “ The 
Sister of Heroes,” “ The Widely-Praised,” 
“Ruling by Beauty," “ The Far-Thoughted," 
“ The Hospitable," “ The Ship-Guider," 
and “ The Web-Raveler "—names that indi¬ 
cate the queenly beauty of the women who 
bore them ; but I search Iliad and Odyssey 
in vain for one trace of that glorified char¬ 
acter, sublime self-sacrifice and unwavering 
faith which “ crowned the daughters of Israel 
and made them daughters of Jehovah." On 
the other hand, Shakspeare’s “ Lady Mac¬ 
beth " is weakness itself when compared with 
Jezebel, who from the harem of Ahab 
mounted with blood-stained feet the throne 
of God's chosen people, and there defied the 
majesty of heaven. How cold, cruel, impla¬ 
cable and lost to all that is human was that 


13 


Consecrates OTomanJjooD 

accursed daughter of murder, whose crimes 
were far greater in number and turpitude 
than those of her infamous father Ethbaal. 
We hear from her lips no cry, 

“ Come, you spirits 

That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here j 
And fill me, from crown to the toe, top-full 
Of direst cruelty ! make thick my blood. 

Stop up the access and passage to remorse 
That no compunctious visitings of nature 
Shake my fell purpose !*’ 

Her entire nature was not only unsexed, but 
dehumanized. In her “woman’s breasts ” 
the milk was turned to gall. 

Lord Lytton, the elegant and shallow 
trifler, tells us, “ A woman’s noblest station 
is retreat,” but “retreat” is a word forever un¬ 
popular with the women of the Bible. Mi¬ 
riam, Huldah, Deborah and Anna were not 
of Lord Lytton’s opinion. They joined in 
one temperament silk and steel, and added to 
the sweetness of womanhood the strength of 
manhood. Keen and flexible as the Damascus 
blade, they were not wanting in the gentle¬ 
ness and modesty which are a woman’s crown 


14 


Consecrated Momanfcood 

of honor. I open Exodus and read a song 
from Miriam, the prophetess, that is older 
than the most ancient pagan lyric, and that 
will continue when English literature is for¬ 
gotten. And there is Deborah, the nurse of 
Rebecca; how tenderly the Bible records 
her humble but faithful service. In ancient 
times and in the East nurses were held in 
greater esteem than now with us. Homer 
sang their praise; Virgil celebrated their vir¬ 
tues ; and Ovid extolled their wisdom and 
kindness. It is no trivial office to guide and 
direct the development of a child's life. The 
nurse is second mother, and her influence is 
sometimes, perhaps often, deathless as the 
soul she instructs. The Bible teaches respect 
and consideration for those who are socially 
beneath us as servants, nurses, and dependent 
children of humble toil. The true lady takes 
her politeness into the kitchen ; it is her abil¬ 
ity to do so that makes her the lady she is. 
Not fine manners in the ball-room, but a gen¬ 
uine and gracious dignity seasoned with wo¬ 
manly kindness, creates the true lady. Few 
think of the Bible as a book of social and do- 


15 


Consecrated OTomanfiooD 

mestic etiquette, and yet such it is. Let a man 
follow its precepts, and he shall become not 
only a good man,but a gentleman ; and what¬ 
ever woman will conform to the spirit of the 
Sermon on the Mount shall find her life 
steadily developing into all that makes a 
beautiful character and fine address. 

And there is the other Deborah, a prophet¬ 
ess and judge in Israel—the woman divinely 
illuminated. I turn to the fifth chapter of 
Judges, and read a song she wrote long be¬ 
fore the gods of Greece held sacred counsel 
upon snowy Olympus—centuries before the 
lyric muse took up her abode beneath the 
shadow of the Parthenon. To what glori¬ 
ous victory she led the hosts of the Lord 
when the enemies of Israel perished among 
the “ oaks of the wanderers.” 

“ After the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, 

After the Helper’s days. 

The highways were deserted, 

The traveler went in winding ways. 

Deserted were Israel’s hamlets, deserted, 

Till I Deborah rose up—rose up a mother in Israel.” 

What a lovely poem is that of Ruth, and 
who does not linger with delight over the 

16 


Consecrate!) OToman^oou 

story of Esther, so royal and so simple, so 
queenly and so modest? 

Turn to the New Testament and see how 
honored is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Hear 
the angelic salutation : 

Hail, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. 
Fear not, Mary : for thou hast found favor with God. And 
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a 
son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and 
shall be called the Son of the Most High : and the Lord 
God shall give unto him the throne of his father David : and 
he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever : and of his 
kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke i : 28, 30-33, Re¬ 
vised Version.) 

Is it surprising that the name “ Mary ” is 
the most popular in all the world, and that 
nearly a third of the women of France bear it 
in one form or another ? What noble ser¬ 
vice was rendered to the early churches by 
the four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, 
Priscilla who instructed Apollos, Phoebe, 
Persis, Tryphosa and Tryphena. 

The opinion prevails that Providence in¬ 
tended woman to occupy a place of humble 
dependence; that she is inferior in the com¬ 
position of her mind and fragile in physical 


17 


Consecrates OTomantjooS 

constitution ; that she is called of God to lead 
a life of entire self-abnegation ; that she was 
created as an everlasting sacrifice to man's 
pleasure and ambition ; and that it is her pe¬ 
culiar mission to be wife and mother to an 
extent to which it is not man’s mission to be 
husband and father. Lord Lytton’s dictum 
is widely received —“ A woman’s noblest sta¬ 
tion is retreat.” It prevails in the State, 
robbing her of civil rights, debarring her 
from the exercise of popular suffrage, and 
closing against her the door of public office. 
It permeates society, circumscribing her in¬ 
fluence, dispossessing her of individuality, 
and preventing her from the full and free ex¬ 
ercise of whatever taste, talent or genius God 
has given her. It is in the church, forbid¬ 
ding her to enter the pulpit, restraining her 
from the important offices of deacon and 
trustee, and, in some churches, denying her 
even a voice in the ordinary government of 
the society. 

Men who advocate the subjection of wo¬ 
men plant themselves upon the Bible and 
say to us, “ You radicals want to turn things 

iS 


Consecrates OTomanJiooD 

upside down. You have no respect for the 
settled order of society. You would destroy 
the divine harmony Heaven has established. 
You set aside the teaching of the great Apos¬ 
tle who said, ‘ I suffer not a woman to usurp 
authority/ ” But the Bible is always on the 
side of progress. Jesus and his immediate 
followers were innovators, agitators and lead¬ 
ers of public thought and morals. The Jews 
quoted the Old Testament against them as 
Southern preachers quoted the New Testa¬ 
ment against us when we demanded the abo¬ 
lition of slavery. We must remember that it 
is the mission of the Bible to lead men and not 
to follow them. The age that shall overtake 
the New Testament will be right in discarding 
it. Open the Bible—what does it teach ? 
“ The genuine perfection of humanity, in¬ 
stead of being the forced obedience of one- 
half to the other half, is the spontaneous 
obedience of both halves to the law of God. 
The incomplete statement of Paul, c I suffer 
not a woman to usurp authority/ is supple¬ 
mented by the far deeper words of Jesus, 
c Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord 


19 


Consecratea MomanljooD 

it over them, and their great ones exercise 
authority over them. Not so shall it be 
among you : but whosoever would become 
great among you shall be your minister ; and 
whosoever would be first among you shall be 
your servant/ (Matthew xx. : 25-27, Re¬ 
vised Version.) That is the ideal of the future .” 
Neither man nor woman shall usurp author¬ 
ity, but both, in mutual helpfulness, shall 
yield willing obedience to the perfect law of 
God. A consecrated womanhood is a woman¬ 
hood of surrender, not to social prejudices 
and superstitions, nor yet to political disabil¬ 
ity, but to Heaven. It is a surrender with¬ 
out defeat and a victory without conquest. 
A woman may dance a ballet or sing in an 
opera, but the moment she enters the pulpit 
to preach a sermon, steps upon a platform to 
deliver a lecture, or goes to the polls to vote, 
society rises in indignation and disgust. If 
a woman may tend as a nurse, why may she 
not practice as a physician ? If a woman 
has a calling to medicine, divinity, law, lit¬ 
erature, art, mechanics, instruction or trade, 
what law of God prohibits? But is it wise 


20 


Consecrates OTomanfjooa 

to open our colleges and schools of science 
to women ? Why not ? Are they not cap¬ 
able of receiving a liberal education ? The 
part woman has played in ancient and modern 
history, in the arts and sciences, as well as in 
political life, constitutes not only an answer 
to the question, but a positive demand for 
admission to every department of knowledge 
and industry. Open all the doors and re¬ 
move every barrier. Subject girls to the 
same requirements you exact of boys in col¬ 
leges, but in all justice and fairness set before 
them the same rewards. The best educators 
tell us that some of the finest mathematical 
students are girls. They read Virgil and 
Cicero, Xenophon and Homer as well in 
every way as do young gentlemen. In mixed 
schools you will find, as a general rule, more 
girls than boys, and they are found in exam¬ 
ination to carry off the greatest proportion of 
prizes. Wherever co-education has been 
honestly and competently tried, girls have 
shown themselves the intellectual peers of 
their brothers. They have more than held 
their own. There have been women every 


21 


Consecrates Womanljooo 

whit as well educated as the most learned men 
of their day, and much better educated than 
the majority of men in any age. When Eliz¬ 
abeth was Queen of England the languages 
were an essential element of a lady’s educa¬ 
tion. The daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke, 
to whom was committed the instruction of 
the young Edward VI., were thoroughly 
trained in both ancient and modern languages, 
and in the literatures of many lands and ages. 
One of those gifted women wrote Latin verses 
of great beauty ; another was, according to 
Roger Ascham, one of the best Greek schol¬ 
ars of the age, with the single exception of 
Lady Jane Grey ; still another was an accom¬ 
plished theologian who corresponded in Greek 
with Bishop Jewell. The distinguished 
Reiske affixed his wife’s portrait to his ex¬ 
cellent and famous edition of “ The Greek 
Orators.” And in the preface to that work 
he acknowledged his great indebtedness to 
her learning and industry. So well acquainted 
was she with the language and literature of 
ancient Greece, that she shared with her hus¬ 
band his most profound investigations, and 


a2 


Consecrate*) MomantjooD 

read for him, correcting as she read, the 
proof-sheets of his book as they came from 
the press. There is nothing in the consti¬ 
tution of a woman’s mind nor in the anatomy 
of her body to prevent her from following 
the same studies that occupy the time and 
attention of young men in an ordinary col¬ 
lege course. On the contrary, the duties of 
the class-room are often far less fatiguing than 
those of household labor. * I believe in co¬ 
education. Boys and girls should be brought 
up together so far as possible. The influ¬ 
ence they exert over each other is in itself a 
great civilizer. The separation of the sexes 


* It may be a matter of interest to some who read this ser¬ 
mon to know who was the first woman to graduate from an 
American college. In an article on “The First Female 
College” (the Georgia Female College), in the “Century” 
for May, 1890, Mr. H. S. Edwards states that he has been 
unable to obtain the name of any woman who graduated at 
Oberlin in 1838. An Oberlin College catalogue, however, 
gives the name of Miss Zeruiah Porter (afterwards Mrs. 
Tweed) as the graduate of 1838, and therefore the first grad¬ 
uate of an American college. Miss Porter graduated in the 
so-called literary course, which did not include Greek. In 
1841, Miss Mary Hosford, Miss Elizabeth S. Prall, and Miss 
Mary C. Rudd took the degree of A. B. at Oberlin. 


23 



Consecrateli OTomanljooti 

in church, state, family and school has always 
been productive of evil, and of evil only. 

“The woman’s cause is man’s $ they rise or sink 
Together, dwarfed or God-like, bond or free.” 

Miss Sophia Jex Blake, whose opinion 
in all questions connected with the education 
of women is of great weight, has thus ex¬ 
pressed herself touching the subject of co¬ 
education : “ That society is most happy 
which conforms most strictly to the order of 
nature as indicated in the family relation, 
where brother and sister mutually elevate 
and sustain each other. ... A school for 
young men becomes a community in itself, 
with its own standard of morality and its laws 
of honor ; but in a college for both sexes 
the student will find a public sentiment not 
so lenient as that of a community of asso¬ 
ciates needing the same indulgence.” 

Miss Blake elsewhere answers, it seems to 
me with reason and justice, the oft-repeated 
objection to co-education, founded upon the 
imaginary danger of a too early romance and 
a hasty attachment, followed by an unwise 
and to-be-repented-of marriage : 


24 


Consecrates Mlomantjoos 

“ There is something in the association of 
every-day life which appeals to the judgment 
rather than to the fancy, and weeks and 
months of steady labor over the same prob¬ 
lems, or at the same sciences, will not be 
more likely to create romances than casual 
meetings at fetes and balls.” 

But I turn from the secular and civil as¬ 
pect of the subject to inquire what service 
woman may render the church, and here I 
am confronted by another question it would 
be difficult to answer : What service has she 
not rendered ? Our churches, most of 
them, will not ordain her to the ministry, 
and yet do they not derive their spiritual life 
from her influence ? Could they exist with¬ 
out her effort and faithful service ? Who 
preached the first Christian sermon, and pro¬ 
claimed to an unbelieving world, “He is risen 
from the dead ! ” if not the women who ran 
with great joy from the empty sepulcher, 
bearing with them a license to preach from 
the Christ himself, given through the Angel 
of the Resurrection, who said, “ Go quickly 
and tell his disciples that he is risen from 


Consecrates OTomanfjooa 

the dead, and behold he goeth before 
you into Galilee; there shall ye see him ? ” 
That was a very short sermon and had 
no text, but no pulpit rhetoric and no 
Sunday oratory will ever eclipse its sub¬ 
lime eloquence. If priests received their com¬ 
mission to preach from the Apostles, the 
Apostles received theirs from the women 
who mourned at the sepulcher and found it 
empty. Women can better afford to remain 
out of the pulpit than the pulpit can afford 
to exclude them. When the Christ shall re¬ 
turn and His kingdom be established for¬ 
ever, the nations shall hear once more the 
old Easter sermon first preached by a woman, 
“ He is risen from the dead ! ” The most 
tender and faithful friendship our Saviour 
ever found in his weary and painful pilgrim¬ 
age upon earth burned in the heart and 
shone in the life of a noble and consecrated 
woman. 

“ Not she with trait’ rous kiss her Master stung, 

Not she denied him with unfaithful tongue $ 

She, when Apostles fled, could danger brave — 

Last at his cross, and earliest at his grave.” 


26 


Consecrates OTtomantjooD 

And if the church was cradled in the arms 
of Mary, have not the daughters of Mary 
been singing to the child Jesus all along the 
ages ? It was Charlotte Elliott who wrote, 
“ Just as I am without one plea,” and Mrs. 
Adams who gave the church that immortal 
hymn, “ Nearer, my God, to Thee.” “ Fade, 
fade, each earthly joy,” “ I need Thee every 
hour,” “ Lord, I hear of showers of bless¬ 
ing,” “ I think when I read that sweet story 
of old,” “ I love to tell the story,” and 
“ How blest the righteous when he dies ”— 
all these were written by women. What 
sweet singers chant cradle hymns to the child 
Jesus—Felicia D. Hemans, Joanna Baillie, 
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, Eliza Cook, Mrs. Baxter, Mrs. Cod- 
ver, Mrs. Bonar, Mrs. Barbauld and the 
Cary sisters. If wise men came from the East 
with gold, frankincense and myrrh for the 
infant Redeemer, wise women are coming 
every day from all parts of the earth with 
gifts of heavenly song. 

The success of every church depends in 
large measure upon the consecration of its 


27 


£onmmtb OTomantjooti 

women. I never knew a church in which there 
were not more women than men; they consti¬ 
tute the majority in every religious meeting; 
and it would seem as if fifty women go to 
heaven for every man who makes even a 
moderate effort to get there. It was the ser¬ 
vice of faithful and active women that saved 
Israel in the hour of national peril. cc When 
the men of Israel/’ to employ the language 
of another, “ bowed in helplessness before 
Pharaoh, two women spurned his edicts and 
refused his behests. A father made no effort 
to save the infant Moses, but a mother’s care 
hid him while concealment was possible, and 
a sister watched over his preservation when 
exposed on the river’s brink. To woman 
was intrusted the charge of providing for the 
perils and wants of the wilderness ; and in 
the hour of triumph woman’s voice was loud¬ 
est in the acclaim of joy that ascended to 
heaven from an emancipated nation.” The 
same womanly courage, patience, love, tact 
and wisdom must be the hope and strength 
of modern Israel. 

The men who have accomplished most owe 


28 


Consecrate*) OTomanijooD 

much to woman’s influence. From her coun¬ 
sel the hero derived his courage, and in 
her approving smile received his reward. The 
great poems of the world are, many of them, 
from her inspiration. Blanche of Lancaster 
lives in the antique English of Chaucer, Laura 
in the sonnets of Petrarch, and Beatrice in 
the Divina Commedia of Dante ; and who 
can look upon the marbles of Michel An¬ 
gelo and not behold the influence of Vittoria 
Colonna ? In all literature there is not a 
nobler sonnet addressed by man to woman 
than this which Michel Angelo laid with 
bowed heart and reverent hand at the feet of 
Vittoria Colonna: 

“ The might of one fair face sublimes my love, 

For it hath weaned my heart from low desires $ 

Nor death I heed, nor purgatorial fires. 

Thy beauty, antepast of joys above, 

Instructs me in the bliss that saints approve $ 

For, oh ! how good, how beautiful, must be 
The God that made so good a thing as thee, 

So fair an image of the heavenly dove. 

Forgive me if I cannot turn away 

From those sweet eyes that are my earthly heaven ; 

For they are guiding stars, benignly given 

To tempt my footsteps to the upward way ; 


29 


Consecrates OTtoman^ooD 

And if I dwell too fondly in thy sight, 

I live and love in God’s peculiar light.” 

John Stuart Mill, dedicating his immor¬ 
tal “ Essay on Liberty ” to the memory of 
his beloved wife whose earthly frame he 
had laid to rest beneath the shades of beau¬ 
tiful Avignon, described her as “ the inspirer, 
and in part the author, of all that was best 
in his writings.” The three “ guardian an¬ 
gels ” whom Comte associated with his secret 
thoughts, and whom he enshrined in his 
innermost heart as the sacred judges of 
his every wish and achievement, were his 
mother Rosalie Boyer, his friend Clotilde de 
Vaux, and his servant Sophie Bliot. Of 
Madame de Vaux he wrote six years after her 
death: “Adieu, my unchangeable companion! 
Adieu, my holy Clotilde, who art to me at 
once wife, sister, and daughter ! Adieu, my 
dear pupil, and my fit colleague. Thy celes¬ 
tial inspiration will dominate the remainder 
of my life, public as well as private, and pre¬ 
side over my progress towards perfection, 
purifying my sentiments, ennobling my 
thoughts, and elevating my conduct. Per- 


30 


Consecrates Womantjooti 

haps, as the principal reward of the grand 
tasks yet left to me to complete under thy 
powerful invocation, I shall inseparably write 
thy name with my own, in the latest remem¬ 
brances of a grateful humanity.” The Taj 
Mahal which the poet Heber describes as “a 
dream in marble, designed by Titans and fin¬ 
ished by jewellers,” is a tribute of love raised 
over the tomb of Moomtaza Mahul by her 
husband, the great Mogul, Shah Jehan. She 
died in giving birth to a daughter, and her 
last request was that her husband would hal¬ 
low in his heart her love as the solitary and 
immortal sanctity of his life. The Taj holds 
directly under the centre dome, “gleaming 
like a silver bubble at the edge of the sky, 
almost as transparent in appearance as the 
azure itself,” the tombs of Shah Jehan and his 
beloved wife. There the “ married lovers ” 
rest, encased in jasper from Punjaub, tur¬ 
quoises from Thibet, agate from Yeman, gar¬ 
nets from Bundelkund, and onyx, amethyst 
and lapis lazuli; and over them a single stone 
is inscribed with the ninety-nine names of 
God. To this day fresh flowers are placed 


3 


Consecrate* WomantjooD 

upon the marble sarcophagi, and above them 
is to be seen the ostrich egg, symbol of the 
all-encircling Divine Providence. “The 
most exquisite building on the globe ” is a 
memorial of the love a noble and beautiful 
woman inspired in the heart of a devoted 
husband. Who shall measure the power and 
authority of woman in the worlds of art, liter¬ 
ature and social life ? And yet, great as is 
her influence in these, it is even greater in 
spiritual matters. Woman turns through a 
natural instinct to the field of religious use¬ 
fulness, and Renan is not mistaken when he 
tells us that she has a special tendency to 
“ long after the infinite/’ Of this Frances 
Power Cobbe gives us a forcible illustration 
in a foot-note to her able essay on “ The Fit¬ 
ness of Women for the Ministry of Relig¬ 
ion.” The illustration is taken from Mrs. 
Kemble’s autobiography, and runs as fol¬ 
lows : “ She describes the late Lady Byron 
as often expressing envy of her (Mrs. Kem¬ 
ble’s) public readings, and her longing to have 
similar crowds in sympathy with her own im¬ 
pressions. c I made her laugh,’ says Mrs. 


3 * 


Consecrates OTtomantjooD 

Kemble, ‘ by telling her that more than once 
when looking from my reading-desk over the 
sea of faces uplifted toward me, a sudden 
feeling had seized me that I must say some- 
thing from myself to all these human beings 
whose attention I felt at that moment en¬ 
tirely at my command, and between whom and 
myself a sense of sympathy thrilled power¬ 
fully and strangely through my heart as I 
looked steadfastly at them before opening my 
lips ; but that on wondering afterwards what 
I might, could, would or should have said to 
them from myself, I never could think of 
anything but two words— c Be good ! ’ ” Miss 
Cobbe writes : “ I believe that nine women 
out of ten of the better sort would, if they had 
the choice, oftener speak of duty and religion 
than of any other theme.” Is not Goethe 
right ? 

“ The eternal womanly 
Draws us upward and onward.” 


Great is the power of consecrated woman¬ 
hood in domestic life. It has been shown by 
able writers that boys who have sisters, and 

L.ofC. 33 


Consecrates OTomantjooti 

grow up in their society, are more likely to 
develop into strong and noble men than boys 
who are deprived of woman's influence. 
Whatever separates man from woman sepa¬ 
rates both from God. The great objection 
urged against social clubs is that they destroy 
domestic life by isolating the sexes ; they fur¬ 
nish an amusement for the husband in which 
the wife cannot participate. Open the social 
club to both sexes, and its evil tendency is 
removed. 

Then there is the marriage relation. How 
many wedded lives come to failure through 
ignorance. Men and women assume the 
most sacred responsibilities without prepara¬ 
tion, and with no knowledge of themselves 
nor of each other. We say in the marriage 
service, “What God hath joined together let 
not man put asunderbut when God does 
not join, is there anything to sunder? Passion 
dies, novelty disappears, youth fades, and 
unless love be founded upon an intelligent 
and mutual esteem, shall it not also crumble? 
It has been said, “ one cannot be at once 
lover and friend," but you may be sure one 


34 


Consecrate OTomantjooD 

will not long remain the former who is not as 
well the latter. We need to cultivate friend¬ 
ship. Passion will come and go like the 
shadows of clouds over the smooth surface 
of a lake, and no love is abiding without 
friendship. He was right who exclaimed, 
“ They who are joined by love without 
friendship, walk on gunpowder with lighted 
torches in their hands !” They who build 
love upon the foundation of mutual esteem— 

“ Make life, death, and that vast forever 
One grand, sweet song.” 

How shall we strengthen love that it may 
endure when the fires of youth and passion 
are cold ? Only by the cultivation of those 
noble virtues which like bands of steel weld 
together in one life and faith honest and 
pure hearts. How shall two hearts grow old 
together ? Only by the persistent cultiva¬ 
tion of those qualities which are ever young 
and which age not with declining years. 
The young man will not be guilty of an act 
tainted with meanness or baseness lest the 
maiden he loves blot his image from the 


35 


Consecrates OTomanljooa 

pure heaven of her heart; let the young 
husband and wife cherish the same fear and 
honor, and they shall grow nearer and dearer 
as the years silver their brows. The happi¬ 
ness of marriage depends upon the very 
highest and most delicate of reserves, the 
most noble and careful speech, the best and 
most honorable perception ; upon a kindness 
greater than that of a mother to her child. 

The supreme glory of consecrated woman¬ 
hood lies in the consecration itself. The love 
of • God makes every other love immortal. 
What love through Him we give to others is 
forever. Only as we consecrate our lives to 
the Divine Love can we hope to become 
heavenly-minded ; and they only consecrate 
themselves to the Divine Love who, in imi¬ 
tation of our Saviour, give heart and hand to 
the service of mankind. There is a fable 
that four young ladies, disputing as to the 
beauty of their hands, called upon an aged 
woman who had solicited alms, for a settle¬ 
ment of the dispute. The three whose hands 
were white and faultless had refused her ap¬ 
peal, while she whose fingers were brown and 
36 


Consecrates Momantjoos 

rough had given in charity. Then the aged 
beggar said : “ Beautiful are these six uplifted 
hands, soft as velvet and snowy as the lily : 
but more beautiful are the two darker hands 
that have given charity to the poor. ,, Learn 
the lesson of consecrated womanhood. In 
olden times, when the children of Israel 
prepared the Tabernacle in the wilderness, 
“ all the women that were wise-hearted did 
spin with their hands, and brought that which 
they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, 
and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all 
the women whose heart stirred them up in 
wisdom spun goats' hair.” The wise-hearted 
women of to-day are the daughters of modern 
Israel who from the love of God serve faith¬ 
fully the great family of mankind. 



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